Freekbox Ethernet Configuration

In a freekbox2, the ethernet interface is normally not configured. (This is also true of some of the early freekbox3 machines, though most fb3s use ifplugd to automagically connect.) On those older boxes, therefore, some configuration must be done before the box can connect to either a network, or a dsl modem. Most networks require machines to be set up to use DHCP, which automatically assigns IP addresses and other related information, or in some cases one needs to set up a static IP.

To set up the interface in Debian, use your favorite text editor (as root) to edit the file "/etc/network/interfaces"

#(vi,pico,nano,emacs, etc...) /etc/network/interfaces

For static ip configuration, the file needs the following lines:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.0.20
netmask 255.255.255.0 (substituting your own values)
broadcast 255.255.255.255
gateway 192.168.0.1

OR for dhcp (if dhcp server enabled on dsl modem)

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

THEN one needs to bring up (or take down and then bring up) the eth0 interface with the following commands issued as root

ifdown eth0
ifup eth0

OR simply reboot the machine, which will accomplish the same thing, since the "auto eth0" line will cause the interface to be automatically configured at boot.

On a freekbox, /etc/network/interfaces should contain the "auto eth0" line as a comment. simply remove the "#" before it and it should be set.

The file also includes commented out examples for static ip address configuration..

Static DNS

DNS information is set in "/etc/resolv.conf". An example of the file is below:

search freegeek.org
nameserver 198.107.0.14
nameserver 206.26.36.34

Most people using DHCP will not need to edit this file, though there are exceptions.